From U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,630 a reader of this kind has become known in which the frame is held in a stable position by means of the contact lead-ins introduced into the frame from mutually opposing sides. In this known chip card reader, the chip card impacts against the tang of a skid upon insertion into the insertion slot and entrains it upon further insertion, so that the skid slides along a ramp and thus is lifted so that the conductors of the chip will rest against the contacts. The disadvantage of the known reader consists in its complicated design, and in particular, the contact module must be connected with a source of electric power by means of a flexible line, so that the device has an increased susceptibility to interference.
In addition, a reader for chip cards with fixed contacts is known, but where the contacts scrape along the card along the entire insertion length and thus it is used only in special cases.